The year 2023 brought the long-awaited revitalization of renewable energy sources
(RES), as evidenced by data provided to the Slovak Association of Photovoltaic Industry
and RES (SAPI) by the distribution system operators (DSOs). According to SAPI,
this is an important milestone in the development of the PV market, which has
been stagnating for almost 10 years.
According to the data of regional DSOs on newly connected power plants in
2023, a total of 21,307 new photovoltaics with a total capacity of 266.9 MW were
connected throughout Slovakia – approximately 200 MW more than the capacity
connected in 2022. The largest increase of 11,202 plants with a total capacity
of 107.8 MW was evidenced in western Slovakia (about 54% of both the number of
installations and installed capacity), followed by central Slovakia with 6,028
new plants with a total capacity of 102.8 MW. The lowest number of connections
was in eastern Slovakia, where 4,077 power plants were added with a capacity of
56.3 MW.
Considerable interest from households and companies
Small-scale residential PV was the largest contributor to the year-on-year
increase, accounting for 92% of
the total number of installations and 52% of the total increase in installed
capacity. "Residential sources confirmed their dominance in Slovakia
and surprised with an average installation capacity of 7.06 kW. The massive
increases were supported by rising concerns regarding energy price increases,
but also by the well-set-up support system - Green for Households II - which
played a major role. In this respect, I must highlight the work of the
Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA) as well as the Ministry of Economy
of the Slovak Republic (MH SR)," says Ján Karaba, the director of SAPI.
Interesting figures can
also be observed for local sources, which accounted for 39.75% of new
installations. These are power plants producing electricity for on-site
consumption. The activities of SIEA and the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak
Republic, which were translated into three subsidy calls for the construction
of local sources for municipalities and enterprises, should be also
appreciated. Local sources were added in the west of Slovakia (666), with an
average installed capacity of 48.8 kW. The average installed capacity was
noticeably higher in the east (65 KW) and in central Slovakia, where the
average installed capacity was almost double compared to the west (89.1 kW).
Large projects are lagging behind
The last category is represented by commercial sources, i.e. power plants
producing electricity meant directly for sale. These are the most interesting
for Western European countries in terms of the development of the RES sector as
well as in terms of new additions to installed capacity. "In contrast
to residential and local sources, Slovakia lags far behind its European
partners when it comes to commercial sources supplying electricity directly
into the grid. The year 2023 was supposed to bring a recovery in this
respect, but the 8.36% share of total new installed capacity is still very low,
especially for ground installations. To be specific, a new capacity of 21 MW was
added in central Slovakia, which is significantly higher than the new capacity
in the west and the east. However, we are still talking about an average
size of only 1 MW per power plant. Thus, large power plants with a capacity of
over 5 MW have not yet been built and connected," Karaba says.
Slovakia has bounced back from the bottom
The figures from DSOs show a positive trend, according to the SAPI
director. "After a decade of stagnation, it looks like the PV market
has woken up again, but further work is needed to remove barriers to
development and create a transparent and motivating environment for investors.
We are seeing interest in renewables from both private investors and
municipalities. However, problems are caused by lengthy permitting processes
and the problematic use of the capacities released by the Slovak Electricity
and Transmission System (SEPS) in April 2021. It is up to the government to
create the conditions that will allow investors to translate their interest in
RES into real investments – and we stand ready to provide any aid that would
help in creating these conditions," explains the SAPI director.
SAPI has in no small part contributed to the country's renewed interest in
RES and will continue to do so. Apart from extensive communication with key
decision-makers and actors in the energy sector, including the governmental
offices, the Association rigorously seeks to remove the existing barriers and raise
motions that would allow the full participation of new actors. For example, the
topic of community energy – as of now a rather alien concept in the Slovak
energy market – is currently at the forefront of SAPI's focus.
Nevertheless, SAPI continues to be active in the ongoing issues that are
yet to be resolved, including the still lagging development of wind energy and
regularly discusses these topics at the annual SAPI Energy Conference. “We
are happy that we manage to bring together well-known experts from the public
and private sector, whether as speakers or as guests and brainstorm new ideas
or discuss lingering issues. I believe that these conferences greatly
contribute to the development and rise of RES in Slovakia as well,” says
Karaba.
The Association also addresses the rising issue of PV safety. “The rise
of photovoltaics inadvertently gave rise to new companies installing PVs and
while that might sound like positive news, the unfortunate truth is that these
companies are of varying quality. To mitigate the risks of incorrect
installation and possible fire hazard, SAPI continues to provide training
courses for RES installers,” says Karaba. Installers can undertake these
courses to gain greater insights and new knowledge in RES technologies they
will be working with, including photovoltaics. “We have also prepared Codex
for PV installers where we focus on practices each installer should follow
when communicating with customers, and have recently started granting our own
awards for Recommended PV installers. By doing so, we seek to fully support
those companies that adhere to good practices and safety standards and curb out
those that might throw a bad light on photovoltaics,” concludes the
director.